Tag Archives: Business

Mar
24
2023

What’s Your Brilliant Business Idea?

A dream for many working moms is leaving behind the 9-5 and launching a life and business they dream of for their family.

One of the first obstacles that get’s in our way of moving forward with our dream is “I have no idea of what type of business to launch.”

Uncovering that brilliant business idea inside of you (I believe we all have one) is crucial if we are to gain the focus and motivation to go for this dream.

Our business idea can also make or break how successful our business is and most importantly determine if we create the lifestyle that we truly desire for our family

So how do you uncover what your brilliant business idea is? Here are 5 steps to get you started:

Clarity on Your “Why”

The most brilliant business ideas are built from the foundation of your “why.” The deep underlying drive behind why you want to start a business. As working moms we already have a strong “why” which is to provide financial security to our family or have more flexibility to spend the time we want with our kids.

Now we need to go a step further and determine the legacy we want to leave in the world with our business. It’s the “why” that makes us get of bed in the morning to do something we LOVE rather than something we feel like we “have” to do. When we don’t clearly understand our “why” then we take the risk of starting a business we don’t really like, but one we thought we “should” start, or think will make us the most money.

So before going any further determine what your “why” is for starting a business, the change you want to make in the world with it, and then build your business idea from there.

Reveal Your Gifts and Talents

Now you are clear on your “why” it’s time to uncover your greatest gifts and talents you have to offer the world. Embracing our gifts will help us to develop a business idea that we LOVE and feel absolute passion towards. It will also be one of the secret ingredients to making our business thrive and bring in the money.

Ask yourself these questions. What do you love doing? What are you naturally good at? What do people seek you out to help them with? Ask others what they see as your talents? Read my previous post on how to cultivate your greatest gifts through my 5-step GIFTS process.

Your Lifestyle

A business idea must be in line with creating the type of lifestyle you would like as a business owner. Do you want to be able to travel and do your business from anywhere in the world. Or maybe too much travel is why you want to leave your job so you are looking for a business that would allow you to be at home the majority of the time. Would you love having a storefront where you get to interact and showcase your products to your clients on a daily basis? Are you looking to create more flexibility and freedom and do not want to be held to a 9-5 schedule. What is the lifestyle you want to create with your business? Having clarity on this from the beginning will ensure you don’t find yourself in a business a few months from now that feels like it just replaced your job. You want to make sure you build a business that creates that lifestyle you dream of.

Get Creative

You know what you’re good at, you know what your deep “why” is now it’s time to put these two together. Start by brainstorming all the business ideas you can possible think of that will showcase your biggest gifts and fulfill your why in some way. If you want to make life easier for new moms it might be developing a new product you wish you had had. If you want to help people have a more secure financial future you might use your great accounting skills to teach them how to manage their money for greatest wealth.

Don’t hold back. Brainstorm every possible idea you can think of. Even if it sounds crazy at first write it down. Some of the craziest ideas end up as highly successful businesses.

Share Your Idea

Once you have brainstormed your ideas pick the top 3 that most appeal to you. Then start to test them out. Share your idea with people. Your friends, family, acquaintances. Identify the type of person who would most likely be your customer for that particular idea and seek out their opinion. You might find them on online forums, or at local meet-up groups. Start to hang out where they do and seek their feedback on your idea and whether they would use it.

This is a great place to start to see if it is hitting a desire or need of your target market. Ask them what would make them buy or use it. Any ideas they have to make it more appealing or a better fit. You can start to get a feel for how your idea will be receive and ways you can improve on it. Once you start to get a feel on your business idea in these simple ways then it’s time to move on to more focused market research and testing your idea.

Taking the time to unveil a business idea that you and your target audience will LOVE, one that will allow you to share you greatest gifts and talents with the world and create the lifestyle you dream of is the basis of a building a brilliant business and life for you and your family.

Jun
02
2022

Why A Fast Business Valuation Helps

The valuation field is littered with contradictory reports and calculations, as many experts will tell you it is an art as well as a science. The business valuation process is as much about uncovering the right information as well as doing the calculations. Getting agreement on the value of a business is as much about getting agreement on the facts and the appropriate interpretation of the facts as it is about following a defined process.

So the valuation process can often take time, and follow a rigorous path of:

  • Data collection.
  • Data analysis.
  • Financial projections.
  • Industry and market assessment.
  • Business strategy.
  • Value calculations.

The reason for the comlex process is that valuation is as much about discovery as it is about calculation. The business value must understand the numbers and the business drivers in terms of the client. This may be different whether the client is a vendor or a buyer.

Often the business valuer must interpret information that may be 1-3 years old or more and hence it is an iterative process with the client to understand how particular details impact the value of the business.

In many cases the business owner or buyer already has a value range in mind – what they need is their interpretation of business value cross-checked. This is where a fast business valuation helps.

So what is a fast business valuation?

A fast business valuation that has some detailed analysis will usually take 24-48 hours. Often a quick calculation can be completed in 1-2 hours, however the discovery process can take longer.

There are three key steps in a fast valuation:

  • Gather past and Year to Date financial information.
  • Ask some key questions about business profitability, growth, business processes, competitive advantage and industry issues.
  • Systemised process of calculation and reporting.

Once the basic calculations are complete, the business valuer needs to consider the outcome from different viewpoints. This is when time is needed, and hence a good valuation must take at least 1-2 days for the best outcome.

What are the limits of a fast business valuation?

A fast business valuation does not help when it is being relied upon in legal or commercial disputes. In these cases the valuation must be based on solid evidence and reasoning. The interpretation of financial statements, business and industry issues and other factors must be taken into account when producing a defendable report.

Other limitations include:

  • Lack of clear and credible financial reports available.
  • A business that has had dramatic changes in profit performance (such as going from large losses to profits or vice versa).
  • A business whose value significantly depends on intangible factors such as key owner relationships, intellectual property or goodwill.
  • Unavailability of the business owners to discuss the business.

What can a fast business valuation be used for?

At it’s simplest level, a fast valuation will confirm in the buyer or vendor’s mind that they are making the correct decision. This means negotiation can be swift and concise. It gives the client power to be able to definitively set the boundaries in negotiation, and can reduce the time taken to reach a decision.

But it will also uncover the opportunities for the business to increase its value. This is useful to the buyer in understanding what they bring to the table and will help make the vendor feel confident they are defending the value of the business with the right strengths and opportunities.

It can also help confirm the boundaries in settling disputes between business partners. Disputes are not always over a 5-10% difference. It is more likely they differ by several orders of magnitude. A fast business valuation can resolve this issue in less than 2 days. In fact, often putting shareholders through the valuation process helps resolve a dispute, as they come to a mutual understanding of the value and where each shareholder differs in arriving at a a valuation figure.

What about investing in a business?

This is one of the powerful areas of a fast business valuation – it can help indicate if an investment in an existing business will increase its value or not. The valuation can not only tell you what the business is worth now, but also what areas the investment will improve, and hence what the new value of the business will be.

It is crazy to invest $1M in a business but the value only increases by $750,000! A fast valuation can help identify the aspects about a project that will result in a loss of value rather than an increased value.